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Middle East Theatre (Japanese invasion of the Soviet Union)
The Middle East Theatre (German: Ostentheater; Italian: Teatro Medio Oriente; French: Théâtre du Moyen-Orient) (1 April - 28 September 1941) of World War II, codenamed Plan Orient, was a conflict fought between the Axis Powers and the Allied Powers, which began on 1 April 1941 when 7,117,000 Axis troops, along with 5,795 tanks, 10,958 aircraft and 14,578 artillery pieces under Field Marshal Heinz Guderian launched Operation: Gertrude, the invasion of neutral Turkey. The main objective was to form a bridgehead into the Middle East. After the succesful Battle of Greece, Operation: Mercury (Battle of Crete), and Invasion of Yugoslavia by German, Italian, Bulgarian and Hungarian forces, massive preparations for the planned Operation: Gertrude and Operation: Arab Freedom were made, and reinforcements could be sent to the German Afrika Korps under Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in North Africa. It resulted in the destruction of the British Empire and the Commonwealth, the handover of British and French colonies in the Middle East, and the rise of Nazi Germany as an recognized military and industrial superpower. It later led to Operation: Barbarossa, the Axis invasion of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics of the Soviet Union in May 1942, and the German and Italian invasion of the United States and Canada in June 1944. Due to its close proximity to the Greek border and the Turkish Army being ill-equipped and disorganized, the city of Constantinople surrendered in less than a week. After only two more weeks of warfare, the German forces had reached the Turkish-Iraqi border to the south. British forces were rapidly completely encircled and annihilated, as they were ill-equipped and had no tanks after the catastrophic Battle of Dunkirk on the Western Front, where over 1,000,000 British and French troops were encircled and massacred, and their equipment and tanks handed over to Nazi Germany. The British troops were no match for the Germans' adversaries, and were rapidly driven into a retreat across the border into the Syrian Republic and finally Lebanon. In the Battle of Beirut, the British troops were once again encircled and massacred at the hands of the Germans during evacuation attempts. By July 1941, the Germans had complete control over the whole Levant and cutting off and isolating the remaining British troops in the Middle East. These troops were only able to remain in combat ready state as they received equipment and supplies sent from the UK via the Suez Canal. By eliminating the last remaining British Army presence in the area, it would give the Third Reich complete control over the oil resources in the Middle East, removing a key Achilles heal of the German economy (its dependence on foreign oil) and give the Third Reich the capability to maintain sustained warfare during an assault on the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics of the Soviet Union, which was planned for sometime in early 1943. During the North African Campaign, the 514,335 Axis troops of the German Afrika Korps led by Field Marshal Erwin Rommel had halted their offensive to wait for reinforcements. The Axis Powers had at last launched an offensive to secure the stategic important island of Malta during the Siege of Malta. Malta was finally taken by the Germans, and reinforcements could be sent to reinforce the German Afrika Korps. An impressive 3,350,000 troops, 2,445 tanks, 5,638 aircraft, and 7,378 artillery pieces were shipped to North Africa. With an massive military force assembled, Erwin Rommel launched an counter-offensive to take the city of Tobruk, leading to the Siege of Tobruk. With 3,864,335 troops, 4,995 tanks, 13,638 aircraft, and 13,568 artillery pieces by now, the German Afrika Korps were very powerful and Tobruk was finally captured in August 1941. Erwin Rommel's reinforced German Afrika Korps crushed all British resistance during the Battle of El Alamein near the city of Alexandria on 18 August 1941 and began to push towards Cairo. 7,117,000 troops, 5,795 tanks, 10,958 aircraft, and 14,578 artillery pieces under Field Marshal Heinz Guderian halted on the Jordan's border with Egypt to allow supply lines to catch up with the front and to allow the German Africa Korps to take Cairo in the Battle of Cairo and begin the final assault on the Suez Canal. On 11 September 1941, Guderian's forces resumed their advance on the Suez Canal from the east. Five days later the British forces attempting to hold the canal were completely surrounded. After a week of intense fighting during the Battle of the Suez Canal, which the British sustained heavy losses the remaining forces surrendered. Cut off from vital supplies from its crown jewel colony of India and with most of its land based armed forces wiped out, the British High Command were left with little choice but to sue for peace. The Middle East Theater lasted for 164 days or more than five months. It was the largest theatre of World War II, with over 10 million Axis troops having participated in Operation: Arab Freedom. With over 90 percent of the world's massive reserves of energy resources being possessed by Nazi Germany, Nazi Germany began to construct oil pipelines from the oil fields to the Empire of Japan. As a result, Germany became the world's largest producer of fossil fuels (oil and natural gas), and the world's largest exporter of oil and natural gas. Most of Germany's oil exports were shipped to the Empire of Japan. Category:Japanese invasion of the Soviet Union Category:World War II (Japanese invasion of the Soviet Union) Category:Mediterranean, Middle East and African Theatre (Japanese invasion of the Soviet Union) Category:Middle East Theatre (Japanese invasion of the Soviet Union)